Welcome to Gaia! ::

At the end, he was back at the beginning.

Kaosu, his hands tucked in his pockets, stared at the dirty ground as he picked his way through the lower districts. The sun had dipped below the horizon, and most of the seedy businesses were closing down for the evening. Save for the redhead, the streets were abandoned, stuck in that twilight between day time activities and the creeping of night life. What a dull, uninteresting tableau. It certainly did not suit the colorful array of thoughts swirling through Kao’s mind.

Almost a year had passed since Robert Lynd had uttered the word “Essentic” in front of him for the first time he had heard it since the Hunt. Almost a year had passed since his hatred of the species had sparked. Almost a year had passed since he had decided to hunt down Banning and deal with the situation personally. He had lost so much time! How had he allowed himself to get so distracted? What had he been doing? None of that mattered anymore. His little experience with Rhian had rekindled his hatred. That hatred kept him focused, and had dragged him all the way to this town he disliked so much for a single purpose.

”Banning,” Kaosu purred under his breath, stopping in front of an unremarkable building that contained a secret more incredible than any other establishment in Vargash. For a while he simply stared at the structure, excitement welling up inside of him. This was it. His loathing of Essentics had begun in this city, and here it would end. It was a thousand times more poetic than the Hunt. In the Hunt, he had been nothing more than a pawn. His actions had been dictated by his superiors. He had been capable of nothing on his own. But here, now… he would take the fate of the race in his own hands. Him. Alone.

All that stood between him and his future was one man. One man and his one, quite destructible company.

A sick sort of thrill running up his spine, Kao stepped into Essential Biotics Inc for the first time. He was not sure what he intended to do, other than scope out the layout of the place. Out of a sense of self preservation, he decided that he had better investigate a bit before attempting anything rash. Cautiously, he peered around the narrow entrance hallway. No one was around. No alarms. No cameras. It was probably still open for visiting hours. Good, good. Feeling a bit more confident, the tramp ventured first into the staff area, then into the lobby. He scanned the room over briefly, curiously examining it. Nothing peculiar here, really. Or at least, nothing visible.

Judging from the structure of EBI from the outside, there had to be another room to the right of the entrance he had not explored. However, for the time being, he wanted to check out the stairs. Quietly, he proceeded to the second story. Careful not to make noise, he sifted through filing cabinets full of illegible papers, discovering nothing that he could use to his advantage. Little by little, as he failed to encounter any threats, he dropped his guard. By the time he reached the last office, he had almost forgotten the possibility that he might run into someone else. Without thinking, he pulled open the door rather abruptly.

It took a precious moment for him to process what his eyes told him. His pulse hiccupped. Whoops! He had at last stumbled on an EBI employee. A man in a purple suit occupied the room he had so gracelessly entered. Unfamiliar with the staff and unwilling to compromise his malicious machinations just yet, he quickly slipped into a stoic façade. ”Ah. Hello there,” he purred, wracking his brain for a logical explanation for his trespassing. All the while, his soul burned in his chest. Something about this stranger seemed… important. Was he Banning? Or maybe an employee working overtime?

Either way, the predator had finally found some prey. Oh, this was going to be fun!

A needle to the heart of the matter, huh? What an appropriate metaphor.

Fighting to keep his expression indifferent, Kaosu sized up the man before him carefully. This guy was extremely composed, considering his reaction to suddenly being barged in on in the middle of the night. He was working late all alone with no signs of stress, which meant he was a dedicated employee if nothing else. His clothes were neat and he possessed an almost… noble demeanor. The Hunter’s heart skipped a pace, and that poisonous adrenaline pervaded his system again. He should not get his hopes up –what were the chances he would encounter Banning on his first expedition to EBI?- but his instinct told him he had stumbled on someone important. Good. That might very well save him a lot of time.

The second factor that might save Kaosu some time was that this stranger already seemed suspicious of him. Naturally. It would be difficult to explain why he was sneaking around the building satisfactorily without getting kicked out, and the EBI staffer absolutely exuded impatience. He was not supposed to be here, and both of them knew it. There was no use in trying to play mind games, then. No, he would go straight to the point.

”Good evening,” Kao purred, pointedly stepping further into the room. Gingerly, he closed the door behind him. Normally he might have tried to feign innocence longer, but no matter how he looked at the situation, he was fairly safe. He had checked almost the entire building. There was no security. The two of them were alone. Kao was armed. Even better, they were on the second floor, a far cry away from the earshot of the street and potential help. Problems would only arise if his new acquaintance had emergency services on speed dial, and somehow he doubted someone from an illegal lab would want the authorities poking around his company anyways. Caution was fine, but over caution was inefficient.

With a somewhat confident swagger, he proceeded over to DeLonghy. ”And you are?” He leaned forward, placing a hand on Bane’s desk. As he moved, he pulled back his jacket, purposely flashing the gun nestled in its hidden holster at his waist. It would not be classy to outright threaten a perfect stranger, but he wanted to make sure that his prey knew exactly what kind of person he was dealing with. ”Might you be the owner of this fine establishment?”

Despite his cool attitude, inside Kao was trembling –with anticipation. He seldom acted without some sort of plan. It just was not his style. But it was definitely more thrilling. Or maybe the thrill was from somewhere deeper…

ooc| Failfailfail sorry Graffu. x w x;

Kaosu listened to Banning wordlessly, quietly attempting to kill the distracting emotions ripping through his brain. Banning. Lady Luck must still love him! After all, she had delivered him to his primary target during his very first visit to Essential Biotics Inc. She had saved him a world of trouble and plotting. He could not have arranged this night more perfectly had he planned it!

”So you’re the noble who brought back Essentics! You’re actually a lot more average than I expected. I figured you would someone a bit more… intimidating,” he stated lightly, unable to prevent a twisted sort of excitement from leaking into his voice. His heart picked up pace, sending fire through his veins.

”You see, playing God is a very dangerous game,” the redhead continued. He seemed entirely indifferent towards the tension building in the air. In fact, he sort of fed on it, encouraged by the prospect of finally getting somewhere with this loathing of his. ”We played it once, back in the Hunt. We took away an entire race. And now you’re trying to reverse our hard work –make sentient life.” Kao had picked up a habit of talking from his torture days (words were often as effective for procuring information as blades were), and nothing would deprive him of his long awaited speech now.

Let Banning think he was in control. Let him believe he knew all the variables. Kao’s gun was hardly his hidden trump card, and he was extremely confident that he could handle anything that the business man threw at him. Whether he really could handle Bane or not, situations like this made his blood boil. The thrill of it all got to his head, perhaps clouding his judgement. But it definitely felt good. "It is quite the pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. DeLonghy,” Kao hummed, offering him a hand to shake. ”My name is Lucien Lafraunte, but you can call me Kaosu.” Mmmm, chaos.

”I came a long way to find you Mr. DeLonghy, and mostly out of curiosity,” Kao stated almost cheerfully. ”Your business is illegal, ethically questionable, and risky. So why? Why did you bring back Essentics?”

So you don’t agree with me, do you?

Well, that was to be expected. If Kaosu had learned anything about people in his many long years, it was that it was impossible to shake the opinion of a man who had made up his mind. Considering how risky his Essentic business was, Banning had to have made up his mind about what he was doing a long time ago. Too bad. This fool would never get it. He would never fully understand. His role in the revival of those artificial beings was a thousand times more perverse and harmful to the world than that of a mafia lord or corrupt politician. Sure, those slimy creatures took and destroyed lives. Sure, they were far from free of blame. But to create life… that was in an entirely different realm of ethics.

The very existence of Essentics was an outright mockery of natural life. They imitated emotion. They pretended to love. They weaseled their ways into families. Many of them even eventually grew more powerful than normal humans. It was insulting. It was sickening. The machines might not literally murder as a mob boss might, but their behavior murdered all ideals of humanity. What value did human values have if they could be so easily replicated and improved by a bit of science?

Half reluctantly, Kao supposed that he was no better than they were. After all, he had abandoned said human values entirely. He did not care about his own future. Honestly, he did not care for another soul in his entire race. This kind of absolute apathy enabled him to evolve into the dangerous hypocrite he was today. All that mattered any more was revenge. In order to attain said revenge, he would have to become a machine himself. Accordingly, he merely smiled wryly at Banning’s hostile reaction.

Dirty fight? Ahhh, no. I don’t fight dirty. I believe in clean kills. And whether it’s you or me who wins in the end, I’m going to do this MY way.

In reality, Kao actually had not come for a fight. Something else had driven him back into Vargash. Honestly, what did Bane’s motivations really matter to him? Although he would never admit it, he needed this conversation. Forty years ago, he would have simply cheerfully resumed his Hunt, never bothering to pause to ask “why”. He had changed. He had grown older. His claws had gone unused for too many moons. No, he could no longer simply kill without reason. That’s what made this meeting important. His chat with Mr. DeLonghy would provide him that reason quite nicely, one way or another.

Curiosity? Cute. Banning echoed his own words back to him. Kao was not amused at all. “That’s not good enough,” the redhead stated matter-of-factly. The Lafraunte did not care whether Bane’s explanation was genuine or not. “That’s not a good enough answer in the slightest. That’s just not how this world works.” He ignored the other’s sarcasm. “You had something to be gained from reviving Essentics. Perhaps you were bored with your noble life and felt the need to rebel. Perhaps you disapproved of their genocide. Perhaps you had an experience with one in the past.” Kao slowly shook his head, smirking. “You did not do this for anyone else, no. People always try to say that, but they’re lying to themselves. And you didn’t do it for curiosity. That’s not enough. Even I know that’s not a good enough reason to risk your life.”

Kao had been behaving himself fairly well up to this point. Though he was perhaps a bit too cocky, he had yet to attempt anything rash. Yeah, he had flashed his gun, but that was more so to force Bane to take him seriously than anything else. He had made no direct threats. He hadn’t gotten angry. Good Kao, good Kao. Too bad all of that was about to end.

”So are you going to tell me your real reason, or am I going to have to drag it out of you?” Even though his tone was firm, he still acted casually. Absently he stepped back from the desk, finally glancing over the room. He made no hostile moves; he simply recited the rest of his speech. “No, I probably won’t go that far. It’d be a waste of energy. After all, it’s in your interest to be honest. This chat of ours is the only thing that stands between Essential Biotics Inc and a shiny new, slightly less government sanctioned Hunt.” Meaning me, of course. And anyone else I manage to scrape up for the cause.

Despite his efforts to remain civil and contain his excitement, his composure melted on the next statement.

Lucien flinched visibly at the mention of his past. One of the dark emotions he had suppressed earlier in his chest – sadism, maybe? – resurface violently and coiled around his neck, suffocating his mind of reason. Oh no, you did NOT just go there! Why hadn’t it occurred to him that Banning might have heard of his backstory? Naturally the guy would use it against him. He should have been prepared for this. He wasn’t. Those old days he spent as a noble seemed no more tangible to him than smoke on a distant horizon, so they had never crossed his mind.

His new anger pinching his nerves, Kao confidently but restlessly paced across the office, like a tiger contained in a cage too small. “Help. Heh. Like I would share this with anyone. Like I wouldn’t want to enjoy bringing you down all for myself…”

For Kaosu, this was no battlefield.

He did not care whether he successfully ruffled Banning’s feathers or not. In fact, he did not even care whether he accomplished anything before leaving Essential Biotics tonight. The damage for him had already done. DeLonghy’s words (or lack of satisfactory ones) had fanned the flames of his hatred back into life. They burned through him, clearing all other thoughts from his mind. Even his memories of Trystan, for the first time in months, were clouded by the resulting smoke. It felt so good. Kao felt alive again! He had a purpose. He had a goal to work towards. Sure, single handedly destroying the entire rising Essentic race would be difficult, but at least it would put his talents to use –directly.

”Don’t underestimate me,” the Hunter purred curtly. Thank you for stating the obvious. Of course it’s an ambitious plan! ”I’m very good at uprooting lives. After all, it was my job for a while.” Kao was completely aware that tearing up EBI’s store front would accomplish nothing. He was so foolish as to believe that Banning was stupid enough to hide a lab in the middle of Vargash. Without destroying Essentics at their source, his efforts would be pointless. This was going to be more of a slow, calculated… extermination than a single, reckless attack.

”Destruction? I have no intentions of laying a finger on you just yet. And infiltration is simply not my style,” he continued, stopping his pacing. He still smiled, ”No, I like to take my time. I know where to find many of your Contractors. I’ll start there. Cut down each of them and their little pets, one by one. You may not yield to threats, but some of them have families. Children. Lots of material for me to work with. Besides, a touch of torture can do wonders for that kind of thing, yeah? Through them I’ll get to your other employees…” Mmmm, I can easily go back to my old tricks. I’tll be fun. ”One by one, I’ll track down everyone you’ve “helped” or trusted and remove them from this world. I’ll kill every single one of them, until no one is left except you. Alone.” Over-confident? Maybe. He might have a bit of trouble wiping out so many people… but it was possible. Definitely. There could not be more than fifty owners tops, right? Most of them would have no experience in defending themselves against a monster like him. If he planned correctly and moved carefully, most of them would not even get the chance to fight back.

A part of his conscience balked at such an idea. He had come so far… He had gone so long without losing himself to bloodshed. Deep down, he was terribly afraid that even if he DID complete his insane slaying spree, he would not be able to accept his brother’s death. He, like Bane, would be left with nothing and no one but crushing regret. Unfortunately, this feeble voice of reason remained unheard. Kao was too distracted by the thrill of impending danger to consider this cold, less violent emotion. ”That’s the true meaning of “bringing you down."”

Next Banning did something unexpected. He reached for his desk. Kao was immediately wary, wondering if the businessman had some sort of concealed weapon. However, out of curiosity and a touch of arrogance, he allowed his acquaintance to search through his things. He almost flinched when a strange rock was tossed his way. Catching it involuntarily, the vagabond stared at the strange object blankly, taken aback for a precious moment. Thanks to his run in with Rhian, he recognized it as a spark. But why? Why? Why had Banning given it to him? That was crazy! Why deliberately place an Essentic in the hands of a Hunter?

”I-infiltration, huh?” For once Kao had no speech or hostile remark to respond with. He simply could not process what had just occurred. It made NO logical sense. ”What makes you think I won’t crush this thing the second I step out of here?”

How disappointing. So you're not going to humor me, even with one word? Kaosu could not help but smirk, wondering if Banning was not taking him quite seriously enough. He had to admit, his declaration on the surface seemed ludicrous. Why would a single man risk everything to kill strangers? What chance did he stand against the entire group? Of course the company man was not intimidated. Bane simply did not know what he was capable of.

The problem was, Kaosu did not either. He had not completely thought this through. For example, what would happen when the time came for him to hunt Crux? Could he do it? Could he take someone so important to Tryst away? That’s right. He had threatened to murder the Contractors, too. The thought sent chills quivering up his spine, making him want to step on his own foot. Stupid, stupid. Don’t think about it! If you think, you’ll lose your nerve. That nerve was the only thing holding him together. The hope of revenge for his brother was the only thing that he lived for. He could stand to lose himself, but not to lose his purpose. Even if that meant going through Trystan.

”Come on, don’t even go there,” he scoffed. ”I’m pretty sure I know how to destroy an Essentic, unless my days in the Hunt were nothing more than some sick kind of dream.” Dude, even if I can’t figure out how to crack this rock, I can still break it once it emerges. The redhead shook his head, then returned his attention to the spark, unsure as to whether he should be disgusted or annoyed by it. ”What are you planning? Why would you give this to me? I don’t follow your logic at all.”